5 Tips – Getting More Time Efficient

OKP Admin

Are you really that busy?

If I had a dollar for every time I heard the excuse “I don’t have time”, I would be luxuriating in early retirement by now. But is it really a lack of time that is the problem, or a lack of productiveness?

Today, I thought I would share my top 5 tips for worker smarter and getting more out of your work day.

1) Prioritise your daily tasks. Too many people make the mistake of doing the easiest tasks first and find they run out of time to complete harder tasks later in the day. Instead you should be prioritising your daily tasks and tackle the most important/urgent ones first.

2) Follow the 80/20 rule by devoting 80% of your day to completing the top 20% of your daily tasks. At least, at OKP we aim to spend 90% of our day on the priority tasks that yield results/outcomes.

3) Know when you are most productive and schedule your day accordingly. If you are not a morning person or suffer from that post-lunch slump, schedule less demanding tasks for these times or find a way to give yourself a mental “kick-start”.

4) Manage your meetings. Unproductive meetings are a massive time waster so ensure the agenda is clear prior the meeting, agree on a finish time and keep an eye on your watch. These days many meetings can be replaced with quick to the point teleconferences – especially where relationships are already established.

5) Check your email less. Don’t let emails drive the agenda for your day. Checking your email regularly throughout the day will distract you from your priority tasks and make you lose focus as your mind wanders across the different subjects presented in your inbox. It is much more efficient to schedule several times throughout the day where you attend to your email. Some OKP team members check their emails at lunchtime ie after they have done their priority tasks for the day.

Why not try and implement some of these strategies? You may just find that you do have the time to write that strategy, implement that new program or undertake that donor development activity.

And a take 5! A quick 5 minute brainstorm, stretch or walk around the block is good for the mind and more than often stimulates creativity and solution based thinking.

Why not give OKP a call for a confidential and obligation free chat about your fundraising plans. Please call on 1300 721 799 or email enquiries@okp.com.au